WIND (Wireless Intelligent Networked Devices) is a modularized system for enabling the integration of sensing, processing, and actuation that is essential for robot control. Each unit containing independent batteries, CPU, sensors, and communication devices collaborate to flexibly constitute a network that coordinate to achieve complex tasks. The current system is a wearable controller system that may, for example, be implemented for complex control tasks such as driving the 8-wheeled Hallucigenia that cannot be controlled with the conventional steering wheel and gas and brake pedals. Developed in 2005, research continues to explore new dimensions in robot control.
MATERIALS: ABS resin, Circuitry / PROJECT STARTED: December 2004 / COMPLETED: June 2005 / ENGINEERING AND DIRECTION: Takayuki Furuta+fuRo / DESIGN: Shunji Yamanaka / FABRICATION: Nichinan Corp. / CLIENT: Future Robotics Technology Center, Chiba Institute of Technology